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Glencorse Barracks

Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future use of Glencorse Barracks. [55170]

Mr. Ingram [holding answer 9 May 2002]: The Ministry of Defence is currently examining the options for the future use of Glencorse Barracks, but I can confirm that the Recruit Selection Centre will remain at the site, maintaining a dedicated recruit selection facility in Scotland. In addition, it is intended that there will be a further Army presence at Glencorse, although the extent of this has not yet been decided.

Submarine Service

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) manning requirement and (b) strength is of the submarine service. [54882]

Mr. Ingram: The manning requirement for the Submarine Arm of the Royal Navy is 710 officers and 3,154 ratings.

The trained strength of the Submarine Arm, including personnel filling staff appointments and undergoing training, is 806 officers and 3,004 ratings.

Mr. Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the submarine service has sufficient manpower to crew all operational submarines; and if he will make a statement. [54883]

Mr. Ingram: The Submarine Arm of the Royal Navy has sufficient manpower to man the submarines currently in the normal seagoing operational cycle to 100 per cent. of their complement.

Israel

Tony Worthington: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the supply of arms to Israel. [54731]

Mr. Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the right hon. and learned Member for North-East Fife (Mr. Campbell) on 15 April 2002, Official Report, columns 722–23W.

TREASURY

Aggregates Levy

Sue Doughty: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost to the Treasury will be (a) at the outset of its introduction and (b) projected in the next three years of moneys redirected from the Aggregates Levy to the Sustainability Fund in England. [53719]

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Mr. Meacher: I have been asked to reply.

The Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund is a public expenditure programme of £29.3 million a year in England for the two years 2002–03 and 2003–04. Decisions on the size of the fund in future years have yet to be made.

National Insurance

Mr. Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact on VAT revenues of the 1 per cent. rise in employers' national insurance contributions from April 2003; whether this impact is included in the revenue estimates published in Table A.1 of the Red Book; what estimate he has made of the cost to the public sector of higher VAT charges resulting from the rise in employers' national insurance contributions; and whether the impact on public sector VAT bills of a higher rate of employers' national insurance has been included in his estimate of the total cost to the public sector of the increase in employers' national insurance contributions. [53627]

Mr. Andrew Smith: The net Exchequer effect of a Budget measure is generally calculated as the difference between applying the pre-Budget and post-Budget tax and benefit regimes to the levels of total income and spending at factor cost expected after the Budget. Separate estimates of the impact of individual measures on overall levels of income and spending are not available; any such effects will, however, be taken into account in the forecasts of the economy and public finances as set out in chapters B and C of the "Financial Statement and Budget Report".

English GDP

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contributions to English GDP were made in 2001–02 by the (a) farming, (b) tourism and (c) manufacturing industries (i) gross and (ii) net of subsidies and compensation. [54463]

Ruth Kelly: The information falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 13 May 2002:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question on estimating the contributions to English GDP in 2001–02 of a number of industries net and gross of subsidies and compensation. (54463)

The latest Gross Value Added (GVA) estimates for the constituent countries of the United Kingdom by industry are available up to 1998 only, and were published as an ONS News Release on 27 February 2001 (data up to 1999 will be published later this month). The Standard Industrial Classification breakdown identifies 'Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing' and 'Manufacturing' but does not separately identify 'Tourism'. However, estimates of the contribution from 'Tourism' have been supplied by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, defined from the activities of tourists rather than by the conventional industry classification. For this reason, there will be some double counting for estimates in this category against estimates for the agricultural and manufacturing industries.

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Table 1: Gross Value Added, England, 1998

	£ million
Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing	7,313
Manufacturing	127,027
Tourism(5)	34,700
Total	743,318

⁽⁵⁾ GVA for tourism will include a small element from agricultural and manufacturing industries.

Source:

Office for National Statistics, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Culture, Media and Sport

No sub-UK breakdowns of subsidies or compensation payments consistent with these data are currently available.
Data on subsidies for the whole of the UK are available by industrial sector up to 1999, as outlined in the release 'United Kingdom Input-Output Analysis 2001', but National Accounting conventions limit these to include subsidies on production only, excluding subsidies on product. Using these National Accounts definitions, the 'Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing' industry received £370m subsidies on production in 1999 across the UK, while the 'Manufacturing' industry received none (and, as before 'Tourism' is not classed as an industry under the Standard Industrial Classification).
Separately, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publication 'Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2001' shows that subsidies on product for that industry for the UK totalled £2,405m in 1999 and £1,943m in 2001. No estimates on subsidies on product are available for the Manufacturing industry. No estimates on Tourism as an industry are available from any source, though the Department for Culture, Media and Sport made a statement recently about Government support for tourism, which I enclose.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publication also shows a breakdown by country for these data on agricultural subsidies. The latest report was published on 3rd May 2002, and is available through their web site at http:// www.defra.gov.uk or through the House of Commons library.
The ONS releases referred to in this answer are available in the House of Commons Library and on the web at htt:// www.statistics.gov.uk

Advisory Committee Mandates

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the mandate of the Economic Policy Committee: Working Party and Reduced Compositions is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if he will list the items currently under its consideration; if he will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [55351]

Ruth Kelly: The responsibilities of the Economic Policy Committee are set out in articles 272 and 209 of the EC treaty, and in its statute as adopted in European Council decision 2000/604 of 29 September 2000. Article 1.2 of the statute requests this committee to "contribute to the preparation of the work of the Council by providing economic analyses, opinions on methodologies and draft formulations for policy recommendations, particularly on structural policies for improving growth potential and employment in the Community".

The Economic Policy Committee met 11 times over the 12 months from the beginning of May 2001, and the UK representation consists of three officials from HM

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Treasury and one from the Bank of England. In addition there are eight working groups dealing with specific topics, which met up to six times over the last 12 months.

To disaggregate the costs of the Economic Policy Committee from the UK's total contribution to the EU budget would involve disproportionate costs.

The reports of work under consideration by the Economic Policy Committee are available on the committee's website. Any reports that are subsequently considered by the ECOFIN Council are subject to normal parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the mandate of the Economic and Financial Committee (including alternates and working party) Working Party and Reduced Compositions is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if he will list the items currently under its consideration; if he will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [55352]

Ruth Kelly: The role and responsibilities of the Economic and Financial Committee are set out in Article 114(2) (ex 109c(2)) of the EU treaty and in the statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee, which were adopted by the ECOFIN Council on 31 December 1998.

Since the start of May 2001, the Economic and Financial Committee has met on 12 occasions. In accordance with Article 114(2) of the EU treaty, member states each appoint two members of the committee; the UK is represented by one official from HM Treasury and one official from the Bank of England. Each of these representatives has one alternate.

The information regarding the annual cost of the committee's work to public funds can be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

The items currently under consideration by the Economic and Financial Committee are those to be discussed in the coming months by the ECOFIN Council.

Accountability and transparency to Parliament are ensured by the regular EU scrutiny process: documents agreed by the ECOFIN Council are submitted to Parliament along with explanatory memoranda and are examined by the Scrutiny Committee.

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